Why is stress important?

Stress provides useful clues for meaning.

Each word has a specific stress pattern, which is as much part of the word as the sounds that make it up. So even when you pronounce each sound perfectly, if the stress is wrong, it can be hard to understand.

People listen to patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables to understand what someone is saying.

Incorrect stress can lead to misunderstanding.

Example: is he im`portant or `impotent?

Why is word stress difficult?

English word stress is complex and can occur on any syllable; however, it is always in a fixed position within the same word.

Sometimes even words that are closely related may have different stress patterns.